Waste Management questions testimony in landfill hearing

Pen Argyl continues its opposition to Grand Central expansion.

May 11, 2004|By Fred Walter Special to The Morning Call - Freelance

Pen Argyl Mayor Judith Piper's testimony was challenged Monday night as she talked about times when she noticed malodors, noise, litter and dust she says are caused by operations at the Grand Central Sanitary Landfill in adjacent Plainfield Township.

Piper was the key witness called by Pen Argyl solicitor Peter Layman during the 11th hearing session on a request by Grand Central landfill owner Waste Management Inc. to expand its facility by 42 acres. Township supervisors are holding the hearings on the company's conditional use permit to expand. The hearing will continue at 7 p.m. today.

Pen Argyl Borough Council had opposed a previous expansion request that was denied by Plainfield Township supervisors. Waste Management submitted a revised application, eliminating an increase in the permitted height of the disposal area. This is under review by the township and the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Despite efforts by Waste Management to control the nuisances caused by landfill operations, Piper said she and some residents continue to notice odors, comparing them to "garbage or rotten egg" smells. She says there also are beeping and excavating noises from operating equipment, windblown litter along Pen Argyl Road and dust along Pen Argyl and George streets, near the northern border of the landfill. She said the smell was especially bad last summer when she was giving swimming lessons at Weona Park. "It wasn't enjoyable," she said.

When challenged by Waste Management attorney Len Zito, Piper said she didn't keep daily logs to record the specific times she noticed the nuisances. Zito said the company has to keep a 24-hour daily log of all complaints received and what action is taken in response. He asked Piper whether she was speaking officially on behalf of council.

"I'm just giving my opinion on what I see and smell every day," Piper said. "I don't want to see an expansion. That's my personal belief."

Zito pointed to township zoning and state regulations that require the landfill to have a plan to minimize and control health hazards, odors, noise, dust, litter and any other environmental effects.

"If [the nuisances] continue to occur, maybe what's in place is not sufficient," Piper said.

"The standard isn't to eliminate, but to minimize," Zito said, stressing that the company is meeting that standard.

A new reporting form is being made available to residents by the Slate Belt Environmental Committee to make it easier to file specific complaints or compliments about the landfill operations.

Zito and borough resident Tom Knorr also asked Piper why the borough hasn't expressed any concern about the cleanup of an abandoned underground coal tar site owned by PPL Corp. along the southwestern border of the borough. Most of the site is in adjacent Plainfield Township.

Zito and Knorr said the former coal degasification plant on the site may be contaminating groundwater. Piper said Borough Council has been aware of the situation, but no action has been taken because only a small part of the site is in the borough.